Leonard Austin Braithwaite (October 23, 1923 – March 28, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and former politician in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

from 1963 to 1975. He was the first

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

to be elected to the Ontario Legislature.

Background

Braithwaite was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, to a Barbadian father and a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n mother. Leonard served overseas with the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1950. He then received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree from the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1952, and graduated from

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

in 1958. He practiced as a barrister and solicitor, and was named a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1971.

Political career

His political career began in 1960, when he was elected to Ward Four of the

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

township board of education. Braithwaite was president of Etobicoke ratepayer's association at the time, and was elected because of demand for a high school north of Eglinton. Two years later, he was elected as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

on the Etobicoke council. Braithwaite ran for the Liberals in the 1963 provincial election, and defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Geoffrey Grossmith to win the newly created constituency of

by 446 votes. The original declared result showed Grossmith winning by over 500 votes, and Braithwaite was only declared elected after a serious error in the vote totals was discovered by his campaign team. The Returning Officer claimed it was an accident, due to pre-count tests of the mechanical

adding machine An adding machine is a class of mechanical calculator, usually specialized for bookkeeping calculations. Consequently, the earliest adding machines were often designed to read in particular currencies. Adding machines were ubiquitous office ...

s that were not cleared before the official count began.Lartey 2009, p. 25—27. Braithwaite helped to revoke a section of the Ontario Separate Schools act that had allowed for racial segregation in public schools, when he asked the Legislature to "get rid of the old race law" during his maiden speech at Queen's Park on February 4, 1964. He also called for the admission of female legislative pages in 1966. He was re-elected in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, and served as the Liberal Party Critic for Labour and Welfare. He was defeated in the 1975 election, losing to

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate

Ed Philip Edward Thomas Philip (March 11, 1940 - January 31, 2022) was a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1995 who represented the west Toronto riding ...

by 1,256 votes in the redistributed electoral district. He was elected a city controller on the Etobicoke City Council in 1982. He attempted a return to the provincial legislature during the 1985 election; he was a last minute candidate, as the York West Liberal constituency association could not find anyone to run against the Progressive Conservative incumbent Nick Leluk, who was also the Minister of Correctional Services at the time. Braithwaite lost by 715 votes, significantly closer than his constituency association originally expected, as they thought Leluk would win by a massive rout.Lartey 2009, p. 28. Braithwaite did not run again, and neither did Leluk in the next election, two-years later.

Post-political career and awards

Braithwaite became a bencher of the Governing Council of The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1999. He was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 1997, and invested into the order on February 4, 1998. He was appointed to the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

in 2004. Braithwaite died in Toronto on March 28, 2012, at the age of 88. In 2012, the City of Toront
re-named
a park in the

riding he represented to Len Braithwaite Park in his honour.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Leonard 1923 births 2012 deaths Black Canadian politicians Canadian Anglicans Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Harvard Business School alumni Lawyers in Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Metropolitan Toronto councillors Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Osgoode Hall Law School alumni People from Etobicoke University of Toronto alumni Canadian King's Counsel Black Canadian lawyers Royal Canadian Air Force airmen 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Canadian people of Barbadian descent Canadian people of Jamaican descent